One thing I have learned is that kids grow up fast and it is best to have all the fun you can while you coach. If you haven't experienced this you may doubt it, but I promise you it is true. When your coaching days are over, hopefully you have good memories and have had a positive impact on the kids you coached. There are some things I would do differently and I try to share them on SoccerHelp.

A few months ago I ran into a player I coached when he was 12 - he played on a select team I coached. He is now 26 and a CPA with a big company. I wasn't sure he would remember me but he came over, smiled and said "Hi Coach". We chatted and he told me about college and his job. I told him I wasn't sure he would remember me and he said "Are you kidding? I still have my jersey with the patches on it." That made me feel really good and I was very surprised that a man who is 26 would save his jersey from when he was 12. That experience is motivational to me.

The patches are for motivation, fun and memories. I got started with the motivational patches about 15 years ago I was looking for a cheap way to get my Rec players to come to practice. I tried a lot of things and finally found some little patches that were sold as novelty items, tried them and they really worked. At that time no one was using them for motivation. Over time, I started thinking more about how to motivate my players and I started seeing the benefits of having a Motivational Plan. We now sell over 30 different kinds of patches - they are manufactured for us based on our designs and we buy in quantities of over 100,000. We have sold about 4 million patches and we sell to every sport, schools and churches. We develop patches based on ideas from customers and on how they can fit into a motivational plan.

As you know, if you can motivate hustle, hard play, doing your best, bravery, a great attitude, listening to the coach, and team spirit, those things make a difference in sports and in life. Every player can't be a great athlete, but every kid can hustle, do his or her best, have a good attitude and strive to be Brave. Below are some ideas and links. There are a lot more ideas about how to motivate players and sample handouts at How Coaches Use Our Patches to Motivate and Reward Players:

1. Bravery - We have a new B for Bravery patch that really works. Bravery is a more motivating word than "aggressive" or "tough" because heroes are brave and every kid can strive to be brave. Bravery includes getting back up when you are knocked down, not being afraid of contact, and not getting pushed around.

2. Reward Players Who Make You Smile - Another good idea I heard recently is to give a Happy Face to players who make the Coach smile. That makes the point that making the Coach smile is a good thing and will be rewarded - they don't have to iron that one on - it makes the point.

3. Unselfish Encouragement of Teammates - Using a patch to reward Team Spirit (unselfish encouragement of teammates) gets good results. We sell a T patch for that or you can use a star patch.

4. Hustle - Hustle is CRITICAL. A team that hustles can beat a better team that doesn't hustle - we see that all the time at all levels of play, even college and professionals. The Lightning Bolt patch is great for hustle and we have it with white and yellow backgrounds. It is an exclusive design.

5. Individual Improvement is What You Want and is Achievable - The V Patch Can be for Team or Personal Victories - Team victories are great but personal victories are also important. A personal victory can be any sort of personal improvement, achievement or personal best that you think should be encouraged and rewarded. Soccer is a team sport and if all your players can improve it will make a big difference and more than if only a few players improve. If your "weak links" improve it will benefit the entire team.

6. Every Player Can Be a Star - Choose your color of star patches to reward practice and anything you want to achieve.

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